Noah Rothman of Commentary Magazine, told The National that Mr Tillerson’s statement is symbiotic of “his lackluster tenure at the State Department”.

President Donald Trump says he has “total confidence” in Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

“There has never been a consideration in my mind to leave”, the top American diplomat told reporters. Tillerson, their report was accurate.

Nauert also said the NBC report was “clearly erroneous” and backed up Tillerson’s previous comments.

Tillerson worked for ExxonMobil for 42 years, including as chairman and chief executive officer from 2006 to 2016. “He loves this country and puts America and Americans first”. The news comes just days after the secretary of state revealed that the United States is in direct contact with North Korea, contradicting Trump’s erratic outbursts in press conferences and on Twitter.

According to the report, tensions between Trump and Tillerson peaked over the summer after Trump gave a politically charged speech at the Boy Scout Jamboree in July.

NBC cited three anonymous officials familiar with the incident, and during Mr Tillerson’s statement he did not deny that had said it. “They are valuable to us putting forward good policy…valuable to our citizens feeling safe and secure”.

The White House said Mr Trump remained confident in Mr Tillerson.

Unless concrete evidence is provided by the White House, there is nothing for NBC to apologize for.

“Trump tweeted the story was “#FakeNews” and called on NBC to “issue an apology to AMERICA!”

As secretary of state, Mr Tillerson is one of the most senior USA officials.

Corker is one of Tillerson’s strongest supporters in Congress. But just hours later, Trump said the Saudi-led sanctions were necessary. “The secretary also did not refute that he perhaps threatened to resign, only saying that he ‘never seriously considered it'”.